Consumer Reports: Blender may pose safety risk

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CONSUMER REPORTS -- Makers of the popular “As Seen on TV” product—the “NutriBullet”—have come out with a new version. It’s supposed to be even more powerful for creating healthy drinks, but Consumer Reports says it could pose a safety risk and has labeled it a “Don’t Buy.”

A problem was discovered during Consumer Reports’ standard blender durability test. In that test, seven large ice cubes are placed in an empty container and crushed. That’s repeated 45 times. The blade on the NutriBullet Pro 900 either cracked or broke on two separate models.

While Consumer Reports is not aware of any injuries, a broken blade fragment could easily go undetected in a blended beverage and accidentally be consumed, especially since this product is designed so you can drink right from the container. If you own the NutriBullet Pro 900, Consumer Reports recommends you stop using it.

NutriBullet says its product is not designed to operate as an ice crusher and says Consumer Reports’ durability test is a “misuse of the product” because it does not include any liquid.

But, nowhere does the company caution users they must add liquid when using ice. And, some major retailers like Target and Best Buy even say the NutriBullet Pro 900 can be used for crushing ice.

Also, the purpose of Consumer Reports’ durability test isn’t to see how well a blender crushes ice. It’s a stress test to see if blenders will hold up over time. Plenty of other blenders don’t have a problem with this test, including the original NutriBullet.

If you’re in the market for a personal blender, Consumer Reports recommends the $90 Nutri Ninja. it performed well in all of Consumer Reports’ tests, including the durability test.

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